Climbing into the clouds

Like yesterday the Beilsa tunnel was going to be closed between 8:15am and 7pm so if we wanted to get back to France by the most direct route we had to be at the gates before 8:15. We got there at 8 and it was closed. That was really going to change our plans. However after a little while someone must have seen us pacing and opened the gates for us.

When we left at 7:30am it was over caste and threatening to rain so we opted for full rain gear from the start. It turned to be the correct decision as it just got wetter and colder. The coldest we saw during the morning was the Peak of the Col du Toutmalet which got down to 1.5 degrees when it started to snow.

Below are the highlights of our days riding.

As we left fairly early we got to our accommodation at around 3:30pm which was way too early as dinner isn’t served until after 8pm so we pulled out the map and planned another 160km loop just to get out for a bit more of a spin.

1 – Col d’Aspin 1490m

was getting a bit chilly as we got into the snow

2 – Col du Tourmalet 2115m . the temp here was 1.5degrees as it startedto snow and fog roll through

we passed through many little french towns with narrow streets

we came aross sheep and cattle in the mountains .

3 – Col du Soulur 1474m

coming down Col du Soulur many of the roads are cut into the sides of the mountain. a long way down on one side withvery little if any barriers

enjoying the views

4 – Col d Aubisque 1709m

I think i need a smaller size

navigating through some of the locals

beautiful rivers in the valleys

water rushing over an avalanche shed

5 – Col du Portalet 1794m

one of the many lakes

Then we were out of the mountains and following rivers and moving through quite different.

we saw this suspension bridge from the highway so went searching for it.